The Renaissance in Northern Europe had key differences from Italy, being driven more by religious reform against the Catholic Church than humanism. Realism and detailed naturalism were more common, as were portraits of the middle class. Flemish masters like Van Eyck and Van der Weyden pioneered oil painting techniques and included hidden details. Matsys combined realism with symbolism. Northern Mannerism developed under Francis I in France. Dürer and Cranach documented the German Reformation, while Bosch and Bruegel critiqued society. El Greco reflected Spain's religious tensions through elongated figures.

1. The Rebir! Moves Nor!
The Art of !e Nor!ern Renaissance
Professor Will Adams
Valencia College

2. Renaissance Art in Nor!ern Europe
Should NOT be considered an appendage to Italian ar t.
But, Italian influence was strong.
Painting in OIL, developed in F landers, was widely adopted in Italy.
The differences between the two cultures:
Italy: change was inspired by humanism with its emphasis on the
revival of the values of classical antiquity.
Nor thern Europe: Change was driven by religious reform, the return to
Christian values, and the revolt against the authority of the Church.
More princes & kings were patrons of ar tists.

3. Characteris"cs of Nor!ern Renaissance Art
The continuation of late medieval attention to details.
Tendency toward realism & naturalism [less emphasis on
the “Classical ideal”].
Interest in landscapes.
More emphasis on middle-class and peasant life.
Details of domestic interiors.
Great skill in por traiture.

4. Flemish Realism

6. Giovanni
Arnolfini & His
Wife
Also known as “The
Arnolfini Wedding
Por trait”
Painted by Jan Van
Eyck
1434 CE

7. Van Eyck’s “Giovanni
Arnolfini & His
Wife” - Detail
van Eyck included the mirror to
indicate his interest in optics & to
show off his abilities as a painter.
Notice van Eyck’s signature and
the date above the mirror.
Notice that the mirror reflects an
inverse of the larger scene, which also
includes van Eyck at the easel!

8. Rogier van der Weyden - 1399 - 1464 CE
“The
Deposition”
1435 CE
Notice the
detail &
crispness of
the figures’
garments

9. Van der Weyden’s Deposi"on - Details

10. Quen"n Matsys - 1465 - 1530 CE
Matsys belonged to the
humanist circle in Antwerp
that included Erasmus.
Influenced by
da Vinci’s sketches.
Thomas More called him
“the renovator of the old
ar t.”
“The Ugly Duchess”,
1525-1530 CE

11. The Original
Da Vinci’s
“Grotesque Head”,
c. 1480 - 1510 CE

12. Matsys’ The Moneylender & His Wife, 1514 CE

13. The Moneylender & His Wife - Detail
Interest in optics & personal representation - just like van Eyck!

14. The Moneylender & His Wife - Detail
Notice the extreme detail of the coinage & the textures of the surfaces.

15. France in !e Renaissance

17. Renaissance Art in France
A new phase of Italian influence in F rance began with the
F rench invasions of the Italian peninsula that began in
1494 CE.
The most impor tant royal patron was King F rancis I.
Actively encouraged humanistic learning.
Invited da Vinci & Andrea del Sar to to come to F rance.
He collected paintings by the great Italian masters like Titian,
Raphael, & Michelangelo.

18. Por"ait of King
Francis I
Painted by F rench ar tist
Jean Clouet
1525 CE
Depicts the King in his
more casual hunting attire,
which is still extremely
luxurious.

19. The School of Fontainebleau
It revolved around the ar tists at F rancis I’s Palace at
Fontainebleau.
A group of ar tists that decorated the Royal Palace between
the 1530s and the 1560s.
It was an offshoot of the Mannerist School of Ar t begun in
Italy at the end of the High Renaissance.
Characterized by a refined elegance, with crowded figural compositions
in which painting and elaborate stucco work were closely integrated.
Their work incorporated allegory in accordance with the cour tly liking
for symbolism.

20. The Palace of Fontainebleau

21. The School of Fontainebleau
Gallery [right] by Rosso
Fiorentino & F rancesco
Primaticcio
1528 - 1537 CE

22. Germain Pilon - 1525 - 1590 CE
“The Deposition of Christ”, Bronze, 1580-1585 CE

23. Jean Goujon
1510 - 1565 CE
“Nymph”, Plaster
1548 - 1549 CE “Nymph & Putto,”
Plaster, 1547 - 1549 CE

24. Germany in !e
Renaissance

25. Germany
Keep in mind that
this is the
bir thplace of the
Reformation!

26. Lucas Cranach !e Elder - 1472 - 1553 CE
Cranach was the Cour t
painter at the cour t in
Wittenberg from 1505 - 1553
CE.
His best por traits were of
Mar tin Luther (to the left)
1533 CE

27. Mat!ias Grünewald - 1470 - 1528 CE
Conver ted to Lutheranism.
Possibly involved in the
Peasants’ Revolt on the
peasants side.
Depictions of intense emotion,
especially painful emotion.
“The Mocking of
Christ”
1503 CE

28. The
Crucifixion
Painted by Matthias
Grünewald
1502 CE
Shows Christ in agony
during the Crucifixion
Meant to evoke an emotional
response from the viewer

29. Albrecht Dürer - 1471 - 1528 CE
The greatest of German ar tists.
A scholar as well as an ar tist.
His patron was the Emperor
Maximilian I.
Also a scientist
Wrote books on geometry, for tifications,
and human propor tions.
Self-conscious individualism of the
Renaissance is seen in his por traits.
“Self-Por trait at 26”
1498 CE

30. The Triumphal
Arch
Created by Albrecht Dürer
Massive, assembled
woodblock print created to
celebrated Emperor
Maximilian’s military
triumphs = political
propaganda
Carved between 1515 - 15
17 CE

31. The Triumphal
Arch
Installed in a modern
museum - notice the scale
of the work.
It is meant to overawe the
viewer!

32. The Four
Horsemen
of !e
Apocalypse
Albrecht Dürer
Cut & printed in an illustrated
version of the Book of
Revelation
1498 CE
Depicts the 4 horsemen:
Pestilence, plague, war, & famine.

33. England in !e Renaissance

35. Hans Holbein, !e Younger - 1497 - 1543 CE
One of the great German ar tists who
did most of his work in England.
While in Basel, he befriended
Erasmus.
“Erasmus Writing”, 1523 CE
Henry VIII was his patron from 1536.
Great por traitist noted for:
Objectivity & detachment.
Doesn’t conceal the weaknesses of
his subjects.

36. Ar#st to !e Tudors
“Henry VIII” (left), 1540 CE; and the
future “Edward VI” (above), 1543 CE.

37. The
Ambassadors
Hans Holbein
1533 CE
An
Anamorphic
Skull!

38. This painting hung on the left side of a staircase, so the skull and globe
below the table’s surface would not be visible in their undistor ted forms
unless the viewer was ascending or descending the staircase!
Optical Trickery!

39. Mul#ple Perspec#ves in One Scene!
Holbein challenges the viewer’s sense of perspective!

40. The Renaissance in The
Low Coun"ies

42. Hieronymus Bosch - 1450 - 1516 CE
A pessimistic view of human nature.
Had a wild and lurid
imagination.
Fanciful monsters &
apparitions.
Untouched by the
values of the Italian
Quattrocento, like
mathematical
perspective.
His figures are flat.
Perspective is ignored.
More a landscape painter than a por traitist.
King Philip II of Spain was an admirer of his work.

43. The Garden of
Ear!y Delights
Painted by Hieronymus
Bosch
1500 CE
A ghastly, nightmarish
scene of all forms of
human depravity & sinful
activities.

44. The Garden of
Ear!y Delights
- Detail
In this detail, Bosch depicts
a monstrous hybrid demon
eating & excreting the bodies
of sinful humans in a
nightmarish landscape, meant
to represent Hell.

45. Pieter Bruegel !e Elder - 1525 - 1569 CE
One of the greatest ar tistic geniuses of his
age.
Worked in Antwerp and then moved to Brussels.
In touch with a circle of Erasmian humanists.
Was deeply concerned with human vice and
follies.
A master of landscapes; not a por traitist.
People in his works often have round, blank,
heavy faces.
They are expressionless, mindless, and
sometimes malicious.
They are types, rather than individuals.
Their purpose is to convey a message.

46. Tower of
Babel
Painted by
Bruegel
1563 CE
Tells the Biblical
story of the
creation of the
world’s languages
as a result of
human pride.

47. Bruegel’s “Parable of !e Blind Leading !e Blind”, 1568 CE
“If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” – Matthew 15:13-14

48. Bruegel’s “Hunters in !e Snow” 1565 CE

49. Bruegel’s “The Harvesters”, 1565 CE

50. Spain in !e Renaissance

51. Domenikos Theotokopoulos - “El Greco”
The most impor tant Spanish ar tist of this period was Greek.
1541 – 1614 CE.
He deliberately distor ts & elongates his figures, and seats them
in a lurid, unear thly atmosphere.
He uses an agitated, flickering light.
He ignores the rules of perspective, and heightens the effect by
areas of brilliant color.
His works were a fitting expression of the Spanish Counter-
Reformation.

52. Christ in
Agony on !e
Cross
Painted by El Greco
c. 1605 CE
The contor ted body & agonized
face of Christ during the
Crucifixion reflect the religious
tension within Spain at the time.

53. Fin